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Green Bay Packers

Old School Packers

Father of the Packers

Journal Sentinel files

Curly Lambeau, left, in shown with actress Myrna Kennedy (who starred with Charlie Chaplin in the 1928 film, 'The Circus') and Harold "Red" Grange (The Galloping Ghost) of the Chicago Bears, at an all-star game in Los Angeles in which Lambeau coached in 1933.

Green Bay - Like the 14-foot-tall statue outside the historic stadium that bears his name, Earl “Curly” Lambeau was larger than life.

Visitors and fans - from around the country and around the world - come daily and on game days to Lambeau Field, and many are ultimately drawn to the bronze testament to the flamboyant founder, player, coach, and executive of the Green Bay Packers.

Pointing majestically with his right hand, a football in his left hand, the statue of Lambeau appears to be guiding or instructing. A few yards away, a statute of legendary coach Vince Lombardi stands along side Lambeau’s in the Atrium plaza.

The two most important figures in the history of the Packers franchise: the Green Bay native who started it all, fought for the franchise’s survival, and led the team to national prominence; and the authoritative Brooklyn, N.Y. native who revitalized the proud Packer tradition.

"When we were preparing for the stadium renovation, we fought to save the name because the reason the Green Bay Packers are here today is because of one man: Curly Lambeau," said Bob Harlan, Packers president and CEO. "Curly created the best story in sports history: the Green Bay Packers. Then he fought to keep this franchise alive. We would not exist if it weren’t for him."

The story is the stuff of which NFL legends are made. Lambeau, a star athlete at Green Bay East High School, guided the Packers to six world championships (1929-’31, 1936, 1939 and 1944) and was one of just six NFL coaches to win 200 games (212-106-21, .656 winning percentage with Green Bay) in league history.

The charismatic and volatile Lambeau, so nicknamed because of his natural curly jet-black hair, put up $50 of his own money to buy back the NFL franchise for $250 in 1922 after financial problems and illegal use of collegiate players forced the team to be forfeited. Lambeau raised the other $200 from friend Don Murphy, who sold his Marmon Roadster in exchange for the opportunity to briefly play in the 1922 non-league opening game.

The ultimate honor to Lambeau was his induction into the NFL Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1963, along with three of his star players: receiver Don Hutson, halfback Johnny "Blood" McNally, and tackle Robert "Cal" Hubbard.

The Packers officially joined what is now the NFL in 1921, and Lambeau - following the aerial innovations of his college coach, Knute Rockne, at Notre Dame - pioneered the forward pass in professional football and as a player-coach through the 1929 season.

Lambeau’s success put Green Bay, Wis. on the map in the 1930s, and in the process he became a national celebrity, a status that he embraced in a fast-paced lifestyle that featured three marriages and divorces and hob-nobbing with Hollywood legends such as Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.

"Curly lived a full and colorful life," said Lee Remmel, Packer historian. "Not everyone approved of his personal lifestyle. Concerning the Packers and pro football, he was a pioneer and innovator who showed great enterprise in saving the franchise for future generations to enjoy."

He was the first coach to implement daily practice sessions in the late 1920s and fly his team to road games (1938) in an era of rail travel. At 5-foot-10 and 187 pounds, the versatile Lambeau was listed on the roster as a halfback, but he also played fullback, blocking back, and end in addition to kicking duties.

His 31-year association with the Green Bay Packers began in 1919 at age 21 as a player-captain and ended with his resignation as coach, general manager, and vice president on January 31, 1950 after an internal power struggle with the team’s board of directors. Lambeau finished his coaching career with the Chicago Cardinals (1950-’51) and Washington Redskins (1952-’53).

Oliver Kuechle, former Milwaukee Journal sports editor, wrote: "Whatever the basis for the difference, however, personal or otherwise, the sum total was the same. Here was one of the greatest little organizations in football, Lambeau’s organization, no longer fighting jealously against the big-city rival on the field, and fighting successfully, but fighting bitterly within itself. Something had to give. So Lambeau resigned and the era ended. He was the Packers."

A case of tonsillitis and a chance street corner meeting in 1919 helped determine the destiny of Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau and the Green Bay Packers.

After a decorated high school athletic career at Green Bay East High School, the 20-year-old freshman enrolled at the University of Notre Dame to play football under legendary coach Knute Rockne. Lambeau earned a varsity letter and started at fullback on a team that featured halfback George Gipp.

While back home during Christmas break, Lambeau developed a severe case of infected tonsils that required nearly six weeks of treatment before his family doctor could remove them. Feeling he had missed too much class time at Notre Dame, Lambeau decided to stay in Green Bay for the winter of 1919.

Lambeau took a job with the Indian Packing Company, a war-time meat-packer, as traffic manager for the handsome salary - at the time - of $250 a week. Lambeau would say later, "I thought that was all the money in world," according to David Zimmerman, author of "Curly Lambeau: The Man Behind the Mystique."

Later that summer, Lambeau would have the historic meeting with George Whitney Calhoun, sports editor of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, who had chronicled his prep football and track career. Lambeau ran into Calhoun on the street, where they decided to organize a football team for the 1919 season and ask the packing company to become the sponsor.

The partnership was simple: Lambeau would secure a sponsor and the players, Calhoun would secure the coverage for the fledgling team.

Lambeau - displaying his trademark charm and salesmanship - procured $500 in sponsorship from his boss, Frank Peck, for uniforms and equipment. Calhoun ran an ad in the Press-Gazette inviting parties interested in playing on a city football team to meet at the newspaper office on the evening of August 11, 1919.

This was the humble beginning of a Green Bay team that would become one of the most successful and popular franchises in professional sports. Lambeau was elected team captain of the 25-man squad, referred to as the "Big Bay Blues" because of its blue jerseys before the "Packers" moniker was adopted.

The team fashioned a 10-1 record against mostly local teams and outscored opponents by a 565-12 margin. The only loss was a 6-0 defeat at Beloit. That success resulted in growing fan interest in the city football team, fanned by Lambeau’s passion and appeals for community support and Calhoun’s favorable newspaper press.

The 1920 season produced a much tougher schedule and a 9-1-1 record, and a new sponsor with the sale of the financially troubled Indian Packing Company to the Acme Packing Company.

Based on the team’s success, Lambeau persuaded the Acme owners to apply for membership in the new American Professional Football Association, which would be renamed the National Football League in 1922.

On August 27, 1921, John and Emmett Clair paid the $50 franchise fee and the Green Bay Packers were officially a professional football team. After getting the franchise back in 1922, the Packers faced continued financial problems due to inclement weather that impacted fan attendance.

Andrew Turnbull, general manager of the Press-Gazette, supplied funds that enabled Lambeau to keep the team afloat and complete the season. Turnbull then rallied local businessmen to support the team through a stock sale and raised $1,000, and then helped turn the Packers into a non-profit organization in August 1923.

On the field, Lambeau was using his salesmanship skills to attract high-quality players to Green Bay. While the Packers produced solid winning teams from 1923-’28, it was the addition of McNally, Hubbard, and guard Mike Michalske that ignited Green Bay’s three consecutive titles, based on league standings. The NFL playoff system was implemented in 1933.

"Johnny Blood was the most fined man in pro football," Lambeau would often say, as quoted in Zimmerman’s book. "But he never complained, whether it was for $25 or $200. He’d just say, ‘I had it coming, Curly.’. "

The Packers earned their fourth championship with a 21-6 victory over the Boston Redskins in the 1936 title game, and defeated the New York Giants 27-0 in 1939 and 14-7 in 1944 to claim its fifth and sixth championships under Lambeau.

After three consecutive third-place finishes in the Western Division, the team slipped to 3-9 in 1948 and a dismal 2-10 in 1949. The team’s financial problems, including Lambeau’s controversial $25,000 purchase of the Rockwood Lodge north of Green Bay as a training site, and his deteriorating relationship with the Packers’ board led to his resignation in 1950.

Charles "Buckets" Goldenberg, a mainstay on the Packers’ championships teams of 1936, 1939, and 1944, described contract negotiations with the tight-fisted Lambeau in Zimmerman’s book: "Negotiations . . . were like a three-act play," Goldenberg said. "You started out full of hope. Then Curly started to talk down your demands. At the end, you felt like a bad guy trying to rob the Packers.

"Lambeau used to have three sets of contracts. One he sent to the league - that was the official one. The second one was for club records. The third copy he kept under lock and key in his desk. That was the one he brought out when you asked for more money. ‘Are you worth more than Hinkle or Hutson?’ he thundered at me once when I asked for a raise. He opened up his desk and pulled out their (phony) contracts . . . After some of his hocus-pocus you were happy to get what you got the year before or maybe just a little bit more."

John Biolo, a guard with the Packers in 1939, offered the following perspective in Zimmerman’s book on Lambeau’s coaching style and fiery temperament: "He wasn’t a real popular coach, but I thought he was a real good coach and innovative for that time," Biolo said. "He was very autocratic. For instance, he was famous for trying to date players’ wives or their girlfriends, and if you didn’t like it, you were gone the next day. If you played a poor game or (complained) about his social life, you could be cut.

"There were times when he was very relaxed and easygoing. But then there were times he would be madder than a stuck pig. He would chew you out, even to the point of embarrassing you. I think he had our respect because it was scared into us. Back then, cutting a player was a pretty easy proposition. You cut ’em and that was it."

Biolo also recalled that Lambeau, like most NFL coaches of the era, expected his players to play the game.

"You didn’t get hurt," Biolo said. "Lambeau had very low tolerance on that score. If you were injured you were liable to get cut. Back then you couldn’t do anything about it."

Only Don Hutson received preferential treatment from Lambeau, according to Biolo.

"Lambeau treated Hutson with kid gloves," Biolo said. "He was the only one though. Don would make practice sessions jovial. He would half-heartedly do the exercises and Lambeau would kind of look at him and smile. But anybody else and they caught the wrath of the Belgian."

A special bond did exist between Hutson and Lambeau, one that would grow into a close friendship as both had homes in California.

"I was fortunate in having a creative coach like Curly Lambeau, one who really saw the merits of the passing game at a time when just about no one else did," Hutson said in Zimmerman’s book.

"He was a stern coach and there was a big gap between Curly and the players. He didn’t mingle with them. He was the coach and that was that. After I left football, we became very close friends. We both had homes in Palm Springs . . . but in the beginning, he was the coach and I was just an end."

Harry Jacunski, an end with the Packers from 1939-’44, remembered Lambeau as a perfectionist who demanded excellence. Jacunski was quoted by Zimmerman as saying, "As a coach, Lambeau was enthusiastic, upbeat, very demanding of his players. However, he could also get the players upset at him, as he often would fine them when they didn’t perform the way he wanted them to. If they would miss a block, a tackle, drop a pass he would often fine them . . . Curly wasn’t really a strategist, he was more of a motivational-type coach."

Art Daly, former Green Bay Press-Gazette sports editor and reporter from 1941-’71, said from his home in Green Bay that Lambeau was "primarily a holler guy. Curly was an emotional coach on the sidelines and knew how to inspire his players. The great Don Hutson said it best: ‘He’s not the best X’s and 0’s guy, but he was a great motivator.’. "

City Stadium was renamed Lambeau Field in his honor on Sept. 11, 1965, just more than three months after his unexpected death from a heart attack in Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

Remmel, who has interviewed all 13 Green Bay head coaches, once asked Lambeau if he ever imagined the success and popularity of the Green Bay Packers.

"I asked Curly after his Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame induction in the early 1960s if he ever envisioned all this when he started the Packers back in 1919," Remmel recalled. "He said, ‘Heck, no. I just wanted to have a team and play football.’"